Recycling Returns to New Orleans

Curbside recycling returned to much of New Orleans last week when Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced the city had reached an agreement with Metro Disposal Inc. The new agreement includes curbside recycling in areas served by Metro — Bywater, City Park, eastern New Orleans, Gentilly, Lakeview, Marigny and Treme. Under the contract, the city's cost will decrease from $18.15 per household to $15.99.

Richard's Disposal currently holds the contract for Algiers, Uptown and parts of Mid-City, and the Landrieu Administration is accepting bids for a new contract as it continues to negotiate with Richard's. The new bids must include curbside recycling and are due at 11 a.m. Dec. 6.

SDT Waste & Debris Services, which serves the French Quarter and Central Business District, also renegotiated its contract, but without recycling. That will leave the Quarter and CBD as the only neighborhoods without city-supplied recycling service. SDT owner Sidney Torres says he will consider adding recycling if the city is willing to pay for it.

The previous citywide recycling program washed away with Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures, leaving private companies like Phoenix Recycling to handle the service independently of regular trash pick up. Former mayor Ray Nagin's administration declined to bring back recycling, citing budget constraints. In August, the city announced a recycling drop-off location at 2829 Elysian Fields Ave., as well as a recycling program for offices at City Hall. — Alex Woodward